Defeated Iraqi capital was once a spiritual, intellectual hub

As statues of the ruthless dictator toppled, joyous crowds danced in the streets.

Baghdad was liberated, the Pentagon said.

Baghdad was conquered, Arab news said.

It was a bittersweet moment for many Muslims. Unlike most Americans, they feel strong emotional ties for the city because of its rich role in Islamic history.

"Baghdad is symbolic for a lot of Muslims," said Dr. Kevin Jaques, a scholar of Islam at Indiana University. "But most Americans, even American converts to Islam, don't understand the significance."

Or how deeply Baghdad tugs at Muslim consciousness.

Centuries ago, the city was considered the intellectual center of the world, filled with philosophical, scientific and literary powerhouses. It was also an important commercial and spiritual hub.

"Baghdad played a fundamental role in the development of Islamic civilization," said Dr. Khaled Abou El Fadl, an Islamic law specialist at the University of California, Los Angeles. "In an Islamic context, there's a glorious history associated with Baghdad."

More than 95 percent of Iraqis are Muslim. But the country's ancient history is significant to Jews and Christians as well.

Iraq is considered the site of the biblical Garden of Eden, and of Ur, the birthplace of Abraham, a towering patriarchal figure in Islam, Judaism and Christianity.

Nineveh, the sinful city described in the Bible, was the capital of Assyria in the Persian Gulf region. A whalebone, considered a relic from the story of Jonah, hangs in the Nebi Yunus mosque near Mosul.

Baghdad was established in the eighth century by the second caliph -- Muslim leader -- in the Abbasid dynasty, and built in a great circle as a symbol of God's unity and power.

The city's original name, Dar al-Salam, means "abode of peace."

"In the American war propaganda, Baghdad has been this evil place of Saddam Hussein," said Michael Sells, an Islam specialist at Haverford College. "But Iraqis and other Arabs are proud of the city's Islamic past."

But sentimentality toward Baghdad shouldn't be mistaken as support for Hussein, he said. The murderous dictator assumed power in 1979.

As a leader, he played on the area's heritage by appropriating Islamic and non-Islamic names for himself. His elite Republican guard divisions bore names such as Nebuchadnezzar and Hammurabi, great kings of ancient Babylon.

"Most of what Americans have heard of Baghdad is Sinbad the Sailor," said Dr. Bruce Lawrence at Duke University, who has written on Islam. "But when Muslims think of Baghdad, what comes to mind are the great caliphs, Islamic teachers and classics."

Baghdad's heyday came in the Middle Ages, when it was a city of marble palaces, expansive mosques and vast learning centers. Scholars came from around the world to study at the famed Academy of Wisdom.

It was there that the works of Plato, Hippocrates, Ptolemy and Pythagoras were translated into Arabic. Major discoveries were made in mathematics and astronomy. It was a city of literature, poetry and music.

"At the city's peak, the great books of science, astronomy and the law were largely written in Baghdad or paid for by the caliphs who resided in Baghdad," Dr. Jaques said.

Baghdad was also a center for medicine and a leading teaching hospital. The city was home to the Arab philosopher al-Kindi as well as al-Ghazzali, a professor of the notable school of religious law.

"People were very literate and educated," said Dr. Gordon Newby, a professor of Middle Eastern studies at Emory University. "This is a side of Iraq you don't hear much about today."

In the 10th century, there were more books in Baghdad than in the libraries of Europe, according to Dr. Gisela Webb of Seton Hall University, who has written extensively about Islam.

She's not surprised that many Muslims now fondly recall the city's glory days. That's typical in difficult times, she said, adding that when people think of their religion, they tend to forget the negative.

"But we need to remember that the history of religion is full of corrupt rulers who use their own sacred texts to justify unjust, cruel, despotic behavior," she said.

"Hitler was a Christian who went awry and Saddam Hussein was a Muslim who went awry."

The road to Baghdad runs past two significant spiritual shrines to men Shiite Muslims believe were the first and third successors of Muhammad. The shrines are in what to Muslims are the holy cities of Karbala and Najaf.

Obviously, he said, there's a lot of euphoria in Baghdad about the end of Saddam Hussein's rule. But that does not mean for a second that Iraqis will accept foreign domination or welcome American troops for very long.

In the meantime, Muslims are holding out great hope for Baghdad. "Baghdad is too central to our history and to Muslim identity to just be forgotten and move on," Abou El Fadl said. "Hopes are high that it will regain a central place in Islamic and Arab history to become a significant source of culture, thought and art."